2500 schools stuck in Mantralaya red tape

Too many applications and the fact that NCP and Congress don't see eye to eye over the proposals means that number of schools won't go up anytime soon

2500 schools stuck in Mantralaya red tape

Too many applications and the fact that NCP and Congress don't see eye to eye over the proposals means that number of schools won't go up anytime soon

If you thought being on the waiting list to get your child in a decent school was a wearisome experience, imagine being in queue to open one.

Many applicants, aspiring to found educational institutes, are doing just that, kicking their heels while the Mantralaya processes their applications for opening new schools.

And around 2,500 applicants are in the formidable queue, all itching to open their portals to students this academic year itself.

The wait comes with its set of problems. First, the academic year has already begun, and the issue is still unsorted.

The concerned file has reportedly seen the insides of many filing cabinets at Mantralaya - shuttling from one department to another without being seen or signed by any officials that matter.

Moreover, the customary delay at Mantralaya in granting or withholding permissions will offer nothing but fewer options to parents anxious about admissions in the current year.

But yesterday, during the weekly State Cabinet meeting, the flip-flop took a serious turn. Some ministers had reacted shrilly to the delay.

According to sources,u00a0 Industries Minister Narayan Rane expressed his strong displeasure over the delay.

He said that the demand for new schools in the Konkan region had been highly neglected. Other ministers, quick on the uptake, started batting for an early decision.

Sensing the mood, CM Prithviraj Chavan pacified his colleagues yesterday by assuring a Cabinet committee that a decision would be taken within eight days.

But not before his deputy, Ajit Pawar, questioned the wit of forwarding these new proposals in a bulk of 2,500. Such proposals are forwarded without any study, NCP ministers argue.

In Baramati, NCP chief Sharad Pawar's constituency alone, 10 to 12 proposals for new schools have been forwarded. So is the case with Karad, the CM's hometown.

In the light of the perceived lack of sound discrimination, Pawar expressed his inability to sanction all such proposals.

Doubts abound
The issue, which caused a commotion in the Cabinet meeting, was apparently discussed in a Cabinet sub-committee last month, which is headed by the CM and includes Pawar, State School Education Minister Rajendra Darda and his deputy Fauzia Khan.

In fact, the CM-headed committee did raise an eyebrow at the Directorate of School Education, which forwarded the pile of proposals. The committee's meeting threw up a host of issues.

Apart from asking what yardsticks were applied to consider these proposals, questions were posed as to how the government can allow schools to open in hordes in the current year; how the directorate can forward this fat a file of applications without any master plan, about the resource requirement of the new schools, and so on, sources from the government said.

Around 2,500 applicants are in the formidable queue, all itching to open their portals to students this academic year itself

Another problem was whether enough qualified teachers were available for the schools. Additionally, would the horde of opening new schools lead to unhealthy competition?

Political quibbling
As the doubts remained largely gnarled, the issue assumed political proportions.u00a0 While Congress' Darda was in favour of sanctioning permissions for the schools, NCP members of the committee, namely Pawar and Fauzia Khan, raised most of the questions.

According to sources, Darda argued that considering the cut-throat competition for admissions and the plight of the parents, the proposed schools were a dire requirement, needed also to break the monopoly of certain schools.
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Parents should have as many choices there can be, based on the school location and fee, he further pointed out.

Sources said that the CM-headed committee seemed to favour the idea that initially, only 500 schools should be allowed to start classes in the current year.

But when the concerned file reached Dy CM Pawar's office, about a week ago, it did not have any mention of the comments and suggestions made by the committee. It simply contained the list of all the 2,500 applicants.

When Pawar asked for the short-listed proposals as per the committee noting, he was told to make his own suggestions for deserving schools instead.

The irritated minister returned the file, unsigned, to the department it came from, sources said.

Another cause of chagrin bundled together with the current issue is that a suggestion made to the Education Directorate last year for online invitation and processing of school applications has not been implemented.

For now, the CM has assured his cabinet colleagues that the Cabinet committee will revisit the issue. Until then, the schools may not be able to open during the ongoing academic year. So, queue up.

75,000
Number of primary schools in Maharashtra

19,600
Number of secondary schools in the state